Published: October 21, 1992

You note, after discussing unpaid leave allowed under Oregon law, that President Bush vetoed a "comparatively mild bill" that "required only companies of 50 or more employees to give new mothers 12 weeks of unpaid leave." You add, "It was his second veto of such a measure."

The bills vetoed by the President were much broader, requiring such employers to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave a year for (1) the birth, adoption or placement in foster care of a child, (2) the care of a child, spouse or parent with a "serious health condition" (a concept itself broadly defined) and (3) employee disability leave.

A bill limited to maternity leave would never have been acceptable to the Democrats, and my own proposal, providing eight weeks of leave following birth or adoption for both mother and father, was overwhelmingly defeated on the House floor.

This incorrect description of the legislation brings into question the comparison of the bill with state laws and the laws of other countries, not to mention the validity of the survey you commissioned about public support of the President's veto.

I was also disappointed to see that you did not include the President's family leave tax credit proposal, which provided incentives for employers to provide leave in the same categories as covered by the Democratic bills while allowing employers and employees flexibility.

When the President is being castigated by the press for allegedly misleading political advertisements, I find the errors and omissions in your article, inadvertent or not, doubly ironic. (Rep.) WILLIAM F. GOODLING Ranking Republican Member Committee on Education and Labor Washington, Oct. 8, 1992